Staff Reporter :
Hardly a week after the US-Bangla Airlines tragic plane crash in Nepal that killed 49 passengers, a domestic flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines escaped another disaster on Tuesday.
An aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying at least 67 passengers and four crew members made an emergency landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Since it appeared to the pilot that landing at Saidpur Airport would not be possible, he hurriedly returned to Dhaka.
A Saidpur bound flight took off at 12:28 hours. But it could not reach the Saidpur Airport on account of technical glitch.
The plane returned and landed in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport within 30 minutes of its take off on Tuesday.
All the passengers and crew members were reportedly safe after the landing.
The Biman official said the pilot took the decision finding pressure problems in its engine.
The Biman Bangladesh Airlines officials said that a tragic incident could occur if the pilot delayed to take the immediate decision to take off the flight.
Meanwhile, the Biman officials have not confirmed what specific technical issue affected the Dash 8-Q400 aircraft.
The Saidpur-bound flight BG493 took off at 12:28 hours and made emergency landing at 12:44 hours, the Biman officials said.
There were at least 67 passengers and four crews in the Biman.
All the mobile phones of officials concerned of Biman and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh found switched off.
Officials at Saidpur Airport said the flight BG493, a Bombardier Dash 8, could not land at the airport facing technical glitch and returned to Dhaka.
Saidpur Airport Manager Shahin Ahmed told media that the plane would be reached in Dhaka.
“There have been some problems with the cabin pressure. That’s why it returned to Dhaka,” he said.
“The pilot didn’t call any emergency. It’s just a technical glitch and pilot didn;t want to take any sort of risk. That’s why he returned,” General Manager (Public Relations) Shakil Meraj of Biman Bangladesh Airlines said.
After landing at HSIA, he said Biman’s Engineers checked the aircraft and now they were preparing for a test flight of the aircraft.
“We are expecting the aircraft to return to service shortly after the test flight,” the Biman’s spokesperson said.
The accident followed crash of a US-Bangla Airlines flight 211 at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on March 12. The 78-seater Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, crashed on landing, and burst into flames. Forty nine of the 71 passengers and crew died in the accident.
